


The Watchers

by TeitoAdderallFanfictions



Series: Glenco [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Insert, Lore - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29005182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeitoAdderallFanfictions/pseuds/TeitoAdderallFanfictions
Summary: Lore regarding the information-selling private military organization known as The Watchers.
Series: Glenco [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127816
Kudos: 1





	The Watchers

_This only details the backstory of The Watchers, for the lore document, go[here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SAPcTNT-gkFZ7HNNCeXZR9xPHwx4ZwJOtXUOPTGC9Gc/edit?usp=sharing)._

# The Watchers

Backstory 

### Formation:

The formation of The Watchers can be attributed to two men by the name of Devin Glen and Lee Torris. Devin Glen was a frail, but intelligent man who owned a tavern on the seedy outskirts of a small town on the Eastern portion of Sanus with his wife. Devin’s tavern, like a lot of taverns in the area, was a hotbed for criminal activity, and Devin knew it. Devin allowed criminals to host meetings and deals in his tavern, the only thing he asked of them was that they didn’t trash the place up. Devin saw many criminal transactions take place, from illegal Dust deals to Faunus trafficking; he didn’t bat an eye to any of it, knowing better than to incite the wrath of the underworld. It wasn’t until a group of organized criminals going by the name of “Blackforce” moved into the town that things changed. 

Blackforce was a large group of organized criminals who would do anything for cash; from theft to assassination, and anything in between. At the time Blackforce moved into the town Devin lived in, it was led by Lee Torris. Lee Torris was a savage man with a fiery temper, coming from a nomadic gang of bandits and having grown up with a drunkard father and prostitute mother. Needless to say, Lee didn’t have the best upbringing. This was reflected in his demeanor, Lee was violent, lustful, and arrogant. But due to his strength, he had risen to the rank of leader in BLackforce. Lee decided to expand the group’s influence, and began to aggressively push towards the Eastern portion of Sanus. Villages along the way fell under the influence of the group or were razed. Lee fancied himself a king, and he frequently toured the places he had “conquered”. Lee decided to pay a visit to the tavern owned by Devin from word of his advisors. Blackforce were on good terms with Devin, he let them use his tavern like any other criminal organization would, and they in turn gave him protection. On his arrival, Lee took a liking to the tavern, and asked Devin if he could buy it. Devin respectfully declined, it had been passed down for generations, and he didn’t feel right selling it. But Lee didn’t care; he wanted the tavern, and he was going to get it. He stormed out of the tavern, promising revenge on the confused Devin. 

For a while after that, nothing happened. Devin’s relationship with Blackforce remained the same, he was even approached by a high ranking member and thanked for his help after he hid a few of their members from a group of Hunters. But there came a time when Lee returned, and it happened to be when a very important meeting was taking place between a few high ranking members of Blackforce and a client on the matter of a Dust heist. Lee stormed into the tavern, demanded that Devin give him the tavern. When Devin declined, Lee sliced his arm off. Devin attempted to get away from the furious Lee, but the murderous man swiftly chopped off Devin’s foot, then his hand, then his head. Everyone stared in horror, including Lee’s own men. He spat on Devin’s corpse and turned to leave. However, the high-ranking members of Blackforce didn’t let him get far. They attacked Lee, overpowering him. They dragged him into the street and onto a stage (it was a market day). There, they detailed the heinous crime that Lee had just committed and proceeded to execute the savage, dumping his body into a pile of discarded meat. The men then left the city, and the influence of Blackforce seemingly faded over time. 

Of course, they weren’t gone. 

The high ranks of Blackforce decided to reform their group to distance themselves from the brutal ways of Lee Torris. They broke camp and began a journey towards the mostly-uninhabited North-Western continent. Upon arrival, the group found a few abandoned villages from what they assumed to be a previous civilization. They decided to settle down on a barren island off the coast of the continent. They built a few homes, then, finding that that wouldn’t be enough, began to build more. They discovered several deposits of Dust and metals on the island, from which they constructed buildings. The group, having established a settlement on the island quite quickly, drew up a new governing system, becoming more like an organized nation than a gang of criminals. Soon after the formation of their government, the group reconnected with their members all across Remnant. Seemingly normal men and women of all walks of life, who were loyal to the group by blood. These spies fed the group information on many things, and in a few decades the group had an incredible amount of information on everything notable in Remnant. They held data on Hunters and Huntresses, where they operated and how proficient they were. They kept tabs on the rising four Kingdoms, and inserted spies into positions in which they could gather secrets. The group decided the name “Blackforce” wasn’t fitting, and took to calling themselves “The Watchers”, for what they did was observe. All the while they practiced strict isolationism, using their hidden influence to dissuade interest towards the continent where they resided by fabricating the false narrative that the continent was not suitable for civilization. This allowed them to remain undetected, for the time being. 

The Watchers also enhanced their technology, experimenting with Dust. They first tried to turn it into a power source with success, and seeing how they were sitting on a large Dust vein, The Watchers decided to dig. As they dug, they began to build underground using the space they mined out. Their aboveground settlement became the unassuming front for a sprawling underground complex. Upon finishing the construction of their base, they had more than enough Dust to power their facilities. Seeing that they had an excess of Dust, The Watchers began to attempt to find a use for it. They knew of its magical properties, but they weren’t interested in that. They made communication devices with it, success. They tried to create ammunition from it, success. They tried to turn it into a medical agent, failure. But they pressed on, turning to more and more unethical experiments. At one point, a large number of Faunus outcasts found their way onto the island; they were swiftly captured. The Watchers didn’t know much about Faunus, nor did they think of them as human, so they used the group as lab rats. They performed gross experiments on the poor outcasts to further their technology. They found some amazing things, new methods of surgery, medicines that would heal wounds that were usually fatal, and perfecting interrogation techniques. While the way they discovered these things was terrible, they achieved amazing results, the cost being the Faunus. 

A major discovery happened while The Watchers were tracing the movement patterns of Grimm. The numerous expedition parties that had been attempting to find the source of Grimm stumbled upon the Land of Darkness. However, the resistance from the Grimm caused them to withdraw before they could properly explore the area. The expedition returned to base with their discovery, prompting the preparation of an exploration into the Land of Darkness. 

The exploration team slowly pushed into the Land of Darkness, slaying countless Grimm as they advanced into the uncharted territory. Casualties were high, but the group didn’t stop. Inevitably, the carnage caused by the group attracted the attention of Salem, who investigated the group. She considered striking them down, but their dedication surprised her. She decided to take the group captive for interrogation. Of course, The Watchers immediately sent another force to free the captured scouting party. The team’s leader, seeing how Salem must have been very powerful to capture the exploration team, attempted to negotiate with her instead of engaging in combat. Salem was initially suspicious of The Watchers, but the leader explained their reason for entering the Land of Darkness and that they just wanted to rescue the exploration team. Salem initially refused, believing The Watchers to be nothing more than a militia. However, the leader showed her the information The Watchers had, something she couldn’t ignore. She started negotiating with The Watchers, asking them about the information they held. Impressed by the amount of information The Watchers had, as well as how they had remained hidden for so long, Salem released the captive exploration party in exchange for secret information on the Kingdom of Atlas. 

Of course, this wasn’t a one-time arrangement, The Watchers and Salem continued to exchange information and services for many things, and soon a mutual relationship between the two groups was formed. The Watchers lended their services to Salem in exchange for money and information. Salem did propose that The Watchers become part of her group and fight humanity, but they refused. Their arrangement continued as normal until Salem hired The Watchers to perform a peculiar assignment. Salem didn’t give them much information on what they were looking for, just that they had to find a certain person in Sanus. The Watchers, annoyed by Salem’s lack of detail, stated that they wouldn’t undergo the mission unless she was transparent with them. Salem, seeing that she didn’t have much of a choice, told The Watchers about the Four Maidens. The Watchers, intrigued by the story, began to investigate further. They successfully completed the mission, giving to Salem the location of the Fall Maiden. The Watchers asked Salem what she wanted the Maidens for, but Salem again refused to divulge any details. 

Following this, the Great War broke out between the Kingdoms. This resulted in large changes to The Watchers. They became more militaristic, training their members in combat against Grimm and humans alike. The Watchers took the training and education procedures for the Four Kingdoms, combined them, and modified them to suit their needs. But they hadn’t just taken training methods, they had troop counts, weaknesses and strengths, and prominent military figures and bases filed away in their vast database. The Watchers did not participate in the war, their only concern with the outside world was that it might find them. Following the conclusion of the Great War and subsequent establishment of the Huntsman Academies, The Watchers faced a dilemma. The Kingdoms were rapidly exploring more and more territory.With the addition of Huntsman, The Watcher knew that they would be discovered at some point, it was only a matter of when. Taking this and considering how valuable the information they held was, The Watchers made preparations to reveal themselves to Remnant. 

Their debut was in Atlas, The Watchers sent an Ambassador with a few Agents to open deals with the government. It was a smooth process that gave The Watchers a large amount of money, Dust, and reputation. While most of the public did not know about The Watchers, those of influential backgrounds quickly became interested in the intelligence the group held. The Watchers began to spread elsewhere, eventually contacting all four Kingdoms in addition to many other groups. 

After their initial spread, the Kingdoms began to wonder where The Watchers got their information from. While The Watchers didn’t directly tell anyone, the Kingdoms soon figured out the information being sold could only be gathered using spies. Naturally, all four Kingdoms scrambled in an attempt to find and weed out any spies The Watchers had inserted. However, it was a fruitless endeavour. The four Kingdoms were unable to find a number of spies to significantly lessen the amount of information The Watchers were extracting. It took a while, but most of the Kingdoms came to terms with the prospect of being unable to stop The Watchers from taking information. 

Following this hindrance, The Watchers cemented themselves as a reliable source of information for anyone willing to pay. While their prices were quite high, the information they sold was detailed and accurate. Seeing how they could use their military strength, and that the members stationed at their base were growing restless, The Watchers began to offer more than information. They began to ship their troops into Remnant as hired soldiers. In doing so, The Watchers began to make enemies with various bandit factions and criminal groups; most notably the White Fang, with whom they had many skirmishes and a few battles. However, criminals soon realized that, while they couldn’t hire The Watchers to do their dirty work, The Watchers would sell them information without a second thought. After all, The Watchers didn’t care about who they were selling to as long as it wasn’t harming themselves. Soon, The Watchers had a myriad of clients of government, military, criminal, and elite backgrounds; their presence was immense, and their publicity and reputation soared. 

One notable trait of The Watchers was their indiscrimination, something that pleasantly surprised the people of Menagerie when The Watchers contacted the Fanus-dominant nation. Of course, The Watchers didn’t mention the horrendous experiments they had carried out upon the group of Faunus outcasts nearly a century prior. 

While most dealings were relatively smooth, some organizations (mostly criminals) thought they could outsmart or overpower The Watchers. This was mostly solved by prompt action from The Watchers, and any attempts to get more than what one paid for were usually unsuccessful. However, one the Kingdoms began to again question who The Watchers were and where they were from, Atlas. The government of Atlas began to apply pressure on an Ambassador to give up The Watcher’s location. The Ambassador refused, and after growing tension between the two parties, The Watchers cut almost all ties with Atlas, with the only trades that remained being with independent clients. However, the Atlesian government wasn’t done with The Watchers; it began attempting to uncover the location of their base of operations. Obviously, this didn’t go unnoticed by spies, who forwarded their findings to The Watchers. Knowing their location would most likely be compromised, and that Atlas intended to expose their base to the world with malicious intent, The Watchers revealed their location to all of Remnant in the form of hosting a tour for all their elite clients, something that impressed the people of Remnant, and further infuriated Atlas. 

However, The Watchers had another problem. Vale looked at the fortifications on The Watchers’ island and confronted them, asking if they had any intention of going to war. The Watchers flatly denied this, stating that the weaponry was for defense in the event someone attacked their base. To further this point, The Watchers pointed out to Vale that, while they had impenetrable defenses, their offensive military power was pitiful. Persuaded by this evidence, the government of Vale 

### Present day:

The Watchers operate across all of Remnant, lending their services to anyone willing to pay. Their command is also present in the form of military installations around Remnant. These bases are mainly used to house reserve troops that can be called upon when needed and to conduct research. In addition to military installations, there are several Watcher Embassies scattered around the major clients of Remnant that operate as business and political establishments. 

The Watchers not only sell information, but goods such as weaponry, Dust, and ammunition. While not as prevalent as their information sales, it is another way they make money. 

The Watchers forbid any outsiders from joining their ranks, however they do allow clients to tour their base. 

The Watchers try to stay out of all politics between the Kingdoms. But they have found themselves the center of controversy on multiple occasions. 

Atlas and The Watchers are in a “cold war” of sorts, with Atlas ramping up military presence on their Eastern border and The Watchers following suit. However, The Watchers have an advantage against Atlas in the form of their spies. While Atlas continuously attempts to weed these spies out, they still remain in the government and military to this day, feeding information on Atlas’ actions back to their base. The Atlesian government is still attempting to provoke The Watchers to this day. This is something neither side will publicly acknowledge; The Watchers because they don’t care, and Atlas out of pride. 

The private military services offered by The Watchers is largely taken up by independent contractors who want to ensure their safety from Grimm and bandit attacks. However, there are a few contracts with major settlements such as Menagerie and (most recently) Vale. Although concerns have been raised as to The Watchers’ military power, The Watchers have stated that they have very little offensive potential. Supporting this, an Ambassador has publicly announced that they have no intention of waging war on Remnant, joking that taking over the world would be too much work. 


End file.
